Patriots offensive line coach candidate Adrian Klemm apparently staying at Oregon

Feb 2, 2023 - 1:00 PM

It appears the New England Patriots can cross one name off their list of potential offensive line coaches for the 2023 season. Adrian Klemm, who interviewed twice with the team over the last two weeks, is apparently staying put at the University of Oregon.

The 45-year-old is currently the school’s associate head coach, run game coordinator and offensive line coach, and it seems he will not vacate his roles despite interest from the Patriots. Oregon head coach Dan Lanning hinted at that during a media conference call on Wednesday when asked about Klemm’s status.

“I don’t anticipate any changes as of right now,” Lanning said. “To build off of that, it just speaks to the quality of the staff that we have here and what people think of our staff. Obviously, Adrian’s as phenomenal coach but I’m not currently anticipating any changes there.”

While Lanning’s wording leaves some room for interpretation, it seems more likely than not that New England will not bring Klemm aboard.

A former second-round pick by the team in 2000, Klemm went into coaching in 2008 as a graduate assistant at SMU. After a stint at UCLA, where he served as run game coordinator, O-line coach and eventually associate head coach, he returned to the NFL in 2019 as assistant offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After two seasons at the job, he was promoted to O-line coach but lasted not even a full year; Klemm was granted his exit in December to join Oregon’s staff under incoming head coach Lanning.

The Patriots had originally interviewed Klemm for their vacant offensive coordinator position, but after hiring Bill O’Brien invited him for a second meeting regarding the O-line coaching position. He was one of two known outside candidates — the other being fellow former Patriot and current Buffalo Bills assistant Ryan Wendell — to fill a role held by Matt Patricia during the 2022 season.